“The banquet is in the first bite”

I’ve always loved beginnings. There’s so much optimism when you think you’ve come up with the perfect blog title or when you’ve written out your New Year’s resolutions in a blank journal. This time, I’ll stick with it. This time, it’s for forever.

I’ve been through so many blogs and left so many journals abandoned that there’s no reason I should think this endeavor should be any different. But I already have a certain feeling that this time, I’ve found a keeper.

Jasmine & Bergamot. I wanted a title that reflected different aspects of myself, and funnily enough, I found it the other day in my sources of morning caffeine. I had a container each of jasmine and earl grey loose-leaf tea, both running low. I liked the idea that, as a child of two cultures, Chinese and American, my taste subconsciously had an equal appreciation for flavors from both East and West. I had grown up drinking jasmine tea with my family, and I had recently discovered Earl Grey, known for its strong bergamot notes, during a trip to London.

There’s also something about these ingredients that call out to the romantic in me, evoking images of late nights walking in a perfumed garden or hot, sunny days lying in a citrus grove. Plus, after my first semester in law school, I’d realized that one of the greatest pleasures in life was just curling up on the couch during a snowstorm with a good book and a giant pot of tea with honey. A final little tidbit: my first blog had been titled Cocoa Mademoiselle, a riff on my favorite perfume from Chanel. And as it turns out, jasmine and bergamot are both scents used in the fragrance. So in a strange way, things have come full circle, and I look forward to all the new adventures and discoveries, culinary or otherwise, that life decides to throw at me.